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River. “You should eat more. To keep up your strength.” It was a stupid thing to say, but
he didn’t know what to do right now.
    She
nodded. “Yes. You’re right.”
    He
felt so fucking helpless, and he hated that. She finally began to eat again,
and then she asked them whether they’d ever been married or engaged.
    “No,”
said River. “Not us. We’ve been too dedicated to our business and now to this
cause.”
    “That’s
sad. I mean, what do you do for … you know. Female companionship?”
    River
snorted. “Not much. Oh, don’t get me wrong. We’re not virgins, but sex is a
rare treat.”
    She
looked surprised. “That’s horrible.” And then she rolled her eyes. “I should
talk. It’s been two years for me.” Her face colored, and she put a hand over
her mouth. “I’m sorry. This is a really personal conversation.”
    “It’s
all right,” he said, quietly. “You can tell us anything.”
    She
gave him a look filled with both gratitude and confusion. “Why are you doing
this for me? I mean, okay. I know what you said about the cause and wanting to
find my aunt and uncle because they helped you, but I’m a stranger.”
    “Not
anymore,” said Vaughn. “You’re their niece, and now you’re the girl we’ve
abducted, for all intents and purposes, in secret. We need to keep you safe.”
    “And
as long as we’re all here,” said River, his heart pounding, “we might as well
make the best of it. So if you need to talk to us, or if you need anything at
all from us, we’re here for you, Marianne.”
    “I
don’t know what to say.”
    “You’ve
had a lot of shocks in a short time. Why don’t we finish eating, and then we’ll
procure you a laptop and you can start learning what we do.”
    She
almost smiled, and River breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes. I’d like that. Thank
you.”
    River
had no idea what would happen now, but he knew one thing as certain as he knew
his own name. It would be extremely difficult to keep away from this girl,
especially with her living right under their roof. And he didn’t have to ask.
He knew Vaughn felt the same way.
     

Chapter
Five
     
    Marianne
was grateful for the total absorption that learning their computer system took
during the next week. She sat side-by-side with Vaughn and River in an airy
office with open windows and plenty of light, perusing sites they’d hacked into
and that were run by both the Regum and Tyranns. They used complicated user
names and passwords, and had several that they alternated with no set pattern.
They’d even figured out how to mask their IP address about ninety percent of
the time.
    It
was similar in many ways to her work on Earth before the invasions in that she
was online and working, but she’d never known there were so many backdoor ways
to get into protected, encrypted sites. She felt like a criminal, but at the
same time, it was exciting and fun. And she couldn’t have asked for better
teachers or co-workers.
    The
guys kept their distance, but she couldn’t help notice the longing looks when
she caught one of them watching her, or the way they both found reasons to sit
close to her or touch her arm or hand once in a while as they worked.
    They
were perfect gentlemen, but that only made her want them more with each passing
day. She wished she had someone to talk to about her conflicted feelings, but
then she hadn’t had many conversations about such things even when she’d had
female friends around. Marianne had always been a private person when it came
to talking about sex and relationships.
    The
guilt she felt over her growing feelings for both Vaughn and River was all
mixed up with grief over the way Jacob had died. After they told her, she’d
spent the next two days wishing she could have known somehow where he was, but
then realized that even if she had, there wouldn’t have been one thing she
could have done about it. Her aunt and uncle hadn’t arrived on Sera until a
year later, and by then Jacob